The invention relates to a method for obtaining protective antigens against Bordetella infections and toxic processes.
It is well known that B.pertussis and B.parapertussis are both causative agents of whooping cough outbreaks.
Studies on the virulence factors prominently involved in the pathogenesis of whooping cough have led to consider two major products of B.pertussis, the filamentous hemagglutinin (FHA) and the pertussis toxin (Ptx), as major determinants of pathogenesis and as efficient immunogens.
In a previous work (FR patent application 8615968 of Nov. 17, 1986 in the names of Institut Pasteur and Inserm), the inventors have used antibodies raised against one other product synthesized by B.pertussis, the adenylate cyclase (AC), to demonstrate the role of this molecule as major toxin in the pulmonary cytopathic syndrome, as evidenced by the induction of an acute adematous hemorragic alveolitis (AEHA) in mice, and thus, as potential protective antigen.